AKEREDOLU: Kudos, knocks in 100 days of foundation laying

By Dayo Johnson

NO doubt, the traditional hundred days in office of Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, as the sixth governor of Ondo State since the creation of the state in 1976 was used to lay foundation for the development of the state with the hope of delivering the dividend of democracy to the people who gave him the mandate in no distant future. Akeredolu was sworn in on February 24, making Friday, June 2, his 100th day in office.

Events in those hundred days in office of Akeredolu have been characterised by commendations and  criticisms as expected. His road repairs and construction efforts across the three senatorial areas of the state received commendation even from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. But the suspension of the party state chairman, Hon Isaac Kekemeke, last week which almost overshadowed the governors milestone in office and  still generating ripples across the state attracted knocks.

Desperate leaders

This singular unpopular adventure by some desperate leaders of the party, is a minus to the ruling party and the governor’s popularity. Many see the fight between the governor and Kekemeke at this auspicious period as unnecessary and diversionary. Kekemeke who had accused the governor of masterminding his removal alleged that the governor had “refused to breakaway from the bitterness and vestige of the last party primary election.”

Also the inglorious sack of elected council chairmen via the court verdict although they have challenged it in court equally received criticism from political observers across the state. Of concern was the speed at which the sacked elected chairmen were replaced by the governor even after he publicly disowned the suit which was resurrected by some interested members of his party.

However, Akeredolu won his way to the heart of civil servants by the “magic” he deployed not only in paying the salaries till date but bent backward to pay the August salaries owed by his predecessor. He has even promised to pay outstanding salaries of September till January owed  the civil servants. Within the last hundred days, the governor was not only able to resolve the intractable leadership crisis within the state House of Assembly but won over a sizeable number of the opposition party to give his ruling party the majority in the eighth Assembly.

While the governor received applause for the feat, the defectors received jeers for abandoning their party at its trying period. Party faithful however have been complaining over the delay in the appointments by the governor who in turn said he was bidding for time so as not to make wrong choices. Many who have been in the lurch for over eight years are desperately and anxiously saying the governor was too slow for their liking.

His aides gave an assurance that the governor would  appoint his commissioners and other important appointments after the budget might have been presented to the House of Assembly. He attributed the delay to the over three months crisis within the Assembly. Speaking on the giant stride made by the governor  in the last hundred days, his Chief Press Secretary, Segun Ajiboye said that the governor has not only done well but has put smiles back on the faces of the people of the state.

According to him, all the lecturers that were unjustly sacked by the last administration at the state owned Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko have been re-instated and their full benefits paid to date. Ajiboye listed other achievement of his boss to include the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) which include the one with a foreign partner on Olokola Project and with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to construct a 27 kilometre bridge across the sea that will link Ilaje with Lekki in Lagos State.

“At the completion of this massive road project, without doubt, commercial activities of great magnitude would burst forth in the state and to a large extent turn it to another business and financial hub particularly due to its proximity to the nation’s major commercial hub, Lagos. In all the three senatorial districts, there have been massive road repairs and constructions in a manner that has never been witnessed before in the history of our state.

“State-owned tertiary institutions also benefited from the road construction projects. At the University of Technology in Okitipupa, intra-roads network were fully constructed and electrified from the main gate inward. Also the state Medical University, Ondo, received similar road construction and other institution roads are all currently receiving attention.”

According to him another area touched in the area of road construction was at the  state university of science and technology, Okitipupa where the state agency for road maintenance and construction has re-engineered the road infrastructure in the institution. “The state government has mobilized the agency to carry out the required construction of the internal and access roads in the university. Also the road network in the state specialist hospital has been rehabilitated and made motorable.

“The government has also commence the construction of the Abusoro road in Ijoka area of Akure metropolis. Businesses and other commercial activities are expected to pick up in Abusoro with the construction of its road network. In the northern senatorial district, Ogbomo/Igbadara Street and Howlet Lane, both in Ifon, are already wearing new looks. Jubilee road-Ugbe junction, Ikare, in the same senatorial district, is not left out of the effort of the government to ensure that every part of the state is opened up to equal economic activities, with the promise of better things to come for the people of the areas.

“The people of Ese-Odo in the southern senatorial district are also joined in the current shouts for joy by the people of the state. Apart from the government’s partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to construct a road to link Araromi in Ondo State with the Lekki-Akodo area of Lagos State, the state government has also started work on the Sabomi road in the area.

Also, in an interview, the Director of Media and Publicity of the party Steve Otaloro said that “the administration is working assiduously to ensure all roads in the rural areas in the state are linked to the major highways, as part of efforts to achieve this goal, the administration is repairing and constructing all roads in every ward in the state. Besides, the governor has made it mandatory for all the 18 caretaker chairmen in the state to construct at least ten kilometres of roads in their local government areas and they have complied with the directive immediately. The goal of the APC-led government is to turn the state into one big octopus of road contraction when it begins major road construction projects in the state.

“There’s no doubt that the people of the state have begun to experience great economic relief besides, the state workers who no longer work with fear of uncertainty concerning payment of their salaries as the governor has begun to gradually offset salary arrears owed by the previous government.

“It has been argued at several fora since the nation has been plunged into economic recession that exploration and exploitation of agricultural advantages abound in the nation is the only quickest way out of the economic quagmire.

“The Arakunrin Akeredolu-led Government has keyed into this as he’s currently using agriculture to drive employment in the state through carefully crafted programmes of engagement of the youths that will eventually triggered Agriculture revolution in the state and food security.

“The government is encouraging farmers and making farming attractive to the youths through its direct procurement of farm inputs like fertilizer and agro-chemicals affordable to them.

“Likewise, the administration has facilitated the approval of over N500 million worth of business plan for different groups across the 18 local governments in the state, this was made possible by the Governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu, who made a high level contact with the World Bank team.

“Other schemes included in the holistic approach to agricultural turn-around programme in the state, the APC government is embarking on a 10,000 Hectares afforestation project among others to fight climate change, with a view to bringing back our forest and preserve it as an heritage for the future generations.

“In the final analysis, it won’t be out of place to say that the Arakunrin Akeredolu-led administration would turn the fortune of the state round before long judging by the viability of all the projects he has embarked on and the impact made within the first 100 days in office.

Speaking with Vanguard,  the governor’s Senior Special Assistant on Infrastructure, Aminu Raimi, said: “We went round the state and found out that these roads are in very bad shapes.

“We made our recommendations to the government, and they were accepted.

“The governor gave speed approval for the construction of the roads, because it is one of the cardinal programmes of this administration to open up every part of the state to better economic activities.

“However, the beautiful thing about these roads is that they areas populated by the people. What that means is that the decision to construct the roads is not influenced by any politician or as a result of the presence of any influential person in the areas. They are areas that are populated by ordinary people of our dear state.”

“With construction works nearing completion in most of the areas, it is generally expected that a fresh breath of life would appear in the economic activities of the people of the areas, with great expectations that soon, other parts of the state will begin to reap from the determination of the present administration to put Ondo State back into global reckoning as the pride of the nation.

But in his assessment, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP Director of Publicity Ayo Fadaka said that “ It is obvious that the Akeredolu administration is still in search of direction to pilot the fortune of the state. Everything is fluid. Things are standing still.

“ In the area of social services, the people are groaning no clear cut policy in the administration of the state.

“ It will be absolutely unfortunate if the goals accomplished before he came to power is unceremoniously reversed.

“Akeredolu has succeeded in paying workers salaries but social services suffers.

Fadaka submitted that “ the only achievement  of Akeredolu administration is to change the title of governor to Arakunrin which is a mere sloganeering.

However, all eyes  are on Akeredolu to see how far he can go in years ahead. His party members and the people of the sunshine state are impatient. His fate would be decided in less than a year in office. The time is ticking, he needs to roll up his sleeves and get cracking.

 

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